The Futures Company
Naming, brand positioning & identity

The coming together of…

Neon was commissioned by WPP to create the name, brand idea and identity for The Futures Company — formed from the merger of Yankelovich, the US leader in consumer trends and lifestyle research, and Henley Centre HeadlightVision, WPP’s European foresight consultancy.

The challenge was to unite two world-class research firms under one inspiring global identity. Neon’s strategic idea, “Unlocking Futures,” captured the company’s ability to blend analytical rigour with imagination — learning from the past and present to understand what comes next. From this, the name The Futures Company naturally followed.

A modern typographic brand mark hinted at the elusive nature of foresight, while a confident, human visual language communicated optimism and clarity. The result: a brand that embodied vision, transformation and the power to unlock better futures.

Kind words…

“Thinking with the future in mind. Working with people who view themselves as both experts in the future and creative lateral thinkers is most design agencies worst nightmare.

Neon rose to this challenge and were flexible, accommodating, challenging, highly creative and inspirational at all the right times. I believe the design is fresh and critically evokes the feeling of energy and transformation. The directional nature of the design challenges us to always focus on the deliverables and ultimately, the impact our thinking must have on our clients business.”

CRAWFORD HOLLINGWORH
Executive Chairman
The Futures Company

“Compelling and creative. Neon were a really great partner for our naming and rebranding work. The enthusiasm and care that they put into the pitch carried on throughout the engagement. They consulted widely with our management team and demonstrated a strong grasp of our business fundamentals and opportunities, resulting in a strong and compelling brand idea. Their creative work was innovative and pushed us to a new level in terms of how we present ourselves. The internal launch was made particularly successful because of the video developed by Neon, which gave a powerful strategic rationale for our new name and identity, and brought it to life in a way that proved inspirational to the team.”

SIÂN DAVIES
Chief Executive
The Futures Company

“Inspirational, insightful and inspiring. Neon did great work for The Futures Company. We had a difficult branding challenge, which they mastered brilliantly. They started by defining a process within which we could focus on key issues, and with that we were able to articulate a set of criteria that successfully guided the rebranding of our company.

They exhaustively developed creative alternatives for us to review and provided insightful counsel as we narrowed down our choices. Once the decision was made, Neon developed an outstanding video and presentation for us to use in introducing the new company identity internally and to our clients. We rely closely on the rulebook of branding guidelines they prepared. Every step of the way, Neon was a close collaborator and a nonpareil strategic branding partner.”

J. WALKER SMITH
Executive Vice Chairman
The Futures Company

To find out more: [email protected] or call +44 (0)20 3289 1733 Share this: Email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Download PDF, follow us on Instagram or view our animations and movies on Vimeo

 

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Branding

Published in book LOGO
by Michael Evamy

PROJECT SUMMARY
Naming
Brand proposition
Brand architecture
Migration strategy
Brand identity
Sub-brands
Internal launch movies
Internal communications
Brand guidelines
Literature
Stationery
Digital templates
Signage
Web transition

The Futures Company brand mark.

By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company brand mark by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

The Futures Company 'before and after merger' brand marks.

The Futures Company before after by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

The Futures Company brand mark animation.

The Futures Company brand mark with images gallery.

By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company Brand Mark with images by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com
By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company Brand Mark with images by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

The Futures Company literature samples.

By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company literature by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com
By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company literature 2 by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

The Futures Company sub-brands.

The Futures Company stationery.

By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company stationery by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

The Futures Company interior graphics.

By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company Reception by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com
By Dana Robertson Creative Director and Founder of Neon. The Futures Company Canteen signage by Neon. On January 31 2008, Yankelovich was acquired by WPP and merged with Henley Centre HeadlightVision (an existing WPP group company). Yankelovich was the US’s leading consumer trends and lifestyle research business and Henley Centre Headlight Vision was Europe’s leading consumer trends business, providing global trends intelligence, research and consultancy services. Neon were approached to provide a new brand idea, name and identity for the merged company, along with a brand architecture that could successfully integrate existing sub brands. Inspired by the high ground of serious, grounded yet inspiring future-facing research consulting, the brand idea is Unlocking Futures and the new name is The Futures Company. Idea and design by Neon Design & Branding Consultancy www.neon-creative.com

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